Since only the significant years of Jesus's life, involving his public ministry, are covered by the Gospels, not much information is available about his life prior to this.

Jesus was probably born in 5 or 6 BCE, shortly before the death of Herod the Great in 4 BCE. He grew up in Nazareth, a small town in Lower Galilee. He was a member of the lower class of society, to which at least 90 per cent of the people belonged. His parents were Joseph and Mary. The Synoptic Gospels refer to four brothers by name: James, Joseph, Jude and Simon. He also had sisters, who are not named in the Gospels.

After having been baptised by John the Baptist, Jesus began his ministry in approximately 28 CE. He called a number of disciples who participated in his ministry and carried on with it after his death. The duration of his ministry cannot be established with certainty. In the Synoptic Gospels reference is made to only one Passover attended by Jesus in Jerusalem, while John refers to three such occasions. This could, but does not necessarily, point to a ministry of three years. On his visit to Jerusalem during Passover, Jesus was arrested and crucified by the Roman authorities, probably in 30 CE. Although the divergent Gospel reports about the resurrection of Jesus make it difficult to say something historically sensible about this event, one can infer from these reports that after Jesus's death his followers had resurrection experiences which convinced them that he was alive.

We are, of course, interested in more than this bare outline of Jesus's life. We want to know what it was that caused people to flock to him great number; what it was about him that made such a great impact on people. Before arriving at an overview, a few preliminary remarks need to be made.

In trying to know something about Jesus as historical figure, one has to keep in mind that he was a first-century Jew who shared the basic convictions of Judaism. His ministry was therefore in some sense related to the Judaism of his day, and to the hopes and expectations of his people.